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Political Developments During 2008 the number of asylum applications presented in Italy increased dramatically, totaling a number of 31,097 new applications. Already in 2007, with 14,053 applications, the Italian reception system experienced many difficulties: the new trend caused a real emergency, which exploded during the summer. The National System for Protection of Asylum Seekers and Refugees, though it has been refinanced with emergency funds, has only 4,388 places in the whole country. The new right-wing Government faced up to the situation with contradictory measures, such as opening huge centres to collect asylum seekers without effective projects of legal and social assistance. Legislation concerning asylum was still lacking, and the progress made during 2007 with the implementation of European directives¹ was partly cancelled. The implementing Legislative Decree, the result of many meetings and consultations between the Ministry of Interior and a group of experts from Italian NGOs, including JRS Italy, was heavily modified. The appeal against a negative decision of the Commission is now even more difficult and, for the first time in Italian legislation, the concept of “manifestly unfounded application” was introduced. Some laws which have an impact on immigration and asylum matters were also introduced in the so-called “Security Package”, a set of urgent norms concerning public security which has been presented to the Parliament. Italians experienced a general feeling of social insecurity, somehow encouraged by unwise public statements by some members of the Government. Episodes of xenophobia and racism, including unmotivated attacks to migrants, occurred during the year.

JRS Activities
In the different territorial offices (Roma, Palermo, Catania, Trento, Vicenza) JRS Italy reached about 20,000 beneficiaries during 2008. In Rome, the soup kitchen served more than 400 meals every day, and 481 people attended five days a week the Italian language course. Most of the effort during the year was focused on increasing the capacity of the services and opening new ones.

Reception centre
A new reception centre for 25 women and children was opened in Palermo. The Ministry for Welfare financed the renovation of the building, which made it possible for Centro Astalli Palermo to give an answer to an urgent need of the town.

Health care
The project for assistance and health care to asylum seekers and refugees Sa.Mi.Fo., based in Rome and started in 2007 thanks to a partnership between JRS Italy and the Italian National Health Service with the support of UNHCR, was potentiated and moved to new offices in the city centre.

Awareness Raising
During 2008, programs of awareness raising were particularly important, especially the programs for young people. The two projects offered by JRS Italy, ‘the right to asylum’, and the ‘interfaith dialogue for high school students’ were continued in 2008. Thousands of teenagers in many Italian towns, including Rome, Catania, Palermo, Padova, Lecce, Imperia, Milan, participated in the projects.

The second edition of the writing competition, “La scrittura non va in esilio”, supported by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, was a great success, with the winning story coming from a 14 year old Roman student. The story was published on the front page of the national newspaper “L’Unità”, and will be the basis fo a short movie to be directed by the Cinema School of Rome.

Training
A training course on asylum rights in Europe and in Italy, “Borders or Barriers?”, was organised, as every spring, for staff and volunteers in Rome. The three conferences, whose speakers were representative of UNHCR and of the main NGOs working on the theme, were attended by an average of 100 people each.

In June JRS Italy was visited by Father Nicolás SJ, the newly elected Father General of the Society of Jesus, who gave a long and meaningful speech on migration in the light of his own personal experiences.

Communications
On the occasion of the Refugee Day a new website for JRS Italy was launched (www.centroastalli.it) and a monthly newsletter for a quick sharing of activities and initiatives was created.